Prior Vulnerabilities: Where Would We Have Expected Retrenchment?

Abstract

The purpose of this final chapter of Part I is to set the stage for the later empirical comparison, to make some of the theoretical expectations with regard to the selected cases more explicit and, in particular, to put the extreme case of New Zealand in a comparative context right from the start. Where do our four countries stand relative to each other at the beginning of the period? Can we identify specific vulnerabilities to retrenchment? Where would we expect retrenchment, both in terms of countries and in terms of individual welfare state programmes?